How do you photograph the wind?

Quote of the day: “Close your eyes and turn your face into the wind.
Feel it sweep along your skin in an invisible ocean of exultation.
Suddenly, you know you are alive.” ― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

A few days ago I headed out to the Norenberg Memorial Garden on Lake Minnetonka to make photographs. With a strong wind blowing off the lake when I got there I realized that making still photos was not going to be fun or successful.  I decided to go with what was happening and work on photographing the wind.

Go with the flow

It was much less stressful than waiting for the wind to still for a moment and gave quite a challenge to my photography.

How Do You Photograph the Wind?

It is not as easy as it first might seem. Using slower exposures to capture movement is an experiment that you can influence but not control. Having too tight of a focus on what I might want to accomplish would be frustrating and counter-productive.

Because it was a beautiful day, the flowers and foliage were lush and lovely, and I loved what I was doing it became…

A Perfect Recipe for Play

Start with Beginner’s Mind—play, experiment, explore.  Add the willingness to make mistakes. Stay in the moment and let yourself experience the joy of each moment with no particular goals in mind.

I tried slowing down my exposures, moving the camera in the direction of the wind, following the waves and ripples in the lake, panning the camera, hand-holding, using a tripod and more.

In the process I discovered the freedom of play. Since I had no particular outcome in mind, every photograph was interesting and taught me something.

It takes both knowledge (from previous experiments and failures) and luck to create a photograph that depicts the wind successfully.

Most of my photos from yesterday are failures in that sense. They either look like a big blurry mess or they look like a mistake.

My experiments were a resounding success anyway!  I had fun.  I learned.  I played. I experienced joy!  And I even found some still moments to capture some photos that I like a lot.

When was the last time that you played with no particular outcome in mind?  Why not find some time today to play?

May you walk in beauty.